Private clampers

moose112

Not sure if i in the right forum or not maybe some of the AGS might be able to help.

Here goes anyway was doing some maintenance work in a couple of apartments in dublin city recently, i know one of the girls that owns one of the apartments. She told me to park my van in her parking space as she does not own a car and there is a private clamping service in operation.
I had a nice bit of work to do between the apartments and was constantly up and down to the van, when i was finally finished (around 8pm) i started bringing my tools back down to the van and noticed it had been clamped. Went up to the girl that owned the parking space and asked what was going on she said the someone else living in another apartment usually parks in her space and they must have contacted the clamping company.
I rang the number which was glued to my windscreen and explained the situation and a snotty b**** told me it would cost me €600 to get the clamp removed.
I just hung up on her, started my generator and cut the clamp off with a grinder (and not to be littering brought the clamp with me and threw it in a skip when i got home). Now i am sure they will send me solicitors letters and probably bring me to court but i am defiantly going to fight it.


Ok after all that, question i have is who and how give private clamping companies the right to touch private vehicles.

beertons

Legend!

As for your question, I don't know. Maybe go back to the parking spot, and clamp (either buy your own or call the same company!) the girl who called them in the first place?

biko

You should probably go back and read any signs, they should declare what's what.
Are each spot market with an apartment number?
If you had the tenants permission I see nothing wrong (not legal advice)
Of course you now have damaged their property and tossed it :pac:

Prob the boys in Motors would know more.

Lenny

Read the motors board. big a couple of big topics there.
dono whyyou psoted this here.
But under law they can notdetain your car on private property. they have to by law remove the clamp and let you veichle free, and then chase you in court for the money
but all I can say.. 600euros???!
I don't think it was a good idea binning the clamp either though, should have hung onto it.

boomer_ie

moose112 wrote: »

Not sure if i in the right forum or not maybe some of the AGS might be able to help.

Here goes anyway was doing some maintenance work in a couple of apartments in dublin city recently, i know one of the girls that owns one of the apartments. She told me to park my van in her parking space as she does not own a car and there is a private clamping service in operation.
I had a nice bit of work to do between the apartments and was constantly up and down to the van, when i was finally finished (around 8pm) i started bringing my tools back down to the van and noticed it had been clamped. Went up to the girl that owned the parking space and asked what was going on she said the someone else living in another apartment usually parks in her space and they must have contacted the clamping company.
I rang the number which was glued to my windscreen and explained the situation and a snotty b**** told me it would cost me €600 to get the clamp removed.
I just hung up on her, started my generator and cut the clamp off with a grinder (and not to be littering brought the clamp with me and threw it in a skip when i got home). Now i am sure they will send me solicitors letters and probably bring me to court but i am defiantly going to fight it.


Ok after all that, question i have is who and how give private clamping companies the right to touch private vehicles.

There is plenty of threads on the motors forum about clampers clamping people. Was there any warning notices up about clampers being in operation in the area?

Having said that one post on the motors forum says that his solicitor reckons you can do what you want with the clamp as once they attach it to your vehicle it becomes yours (how he came up with that I dont know). Having said that €600 is a stupid amount of money!

moose112

Did not think of the motors forum

Thought some of the AGS might have come across something like this before and of course i know what is posted here is not legal advice.

Signs up around the car park alright but the parking spaces were numbered to match the apartment numbers.

I nearly had heart failure when she said €600 took a lot of effort not to scream and roar down the phone at her.

source

moose112 wrote: »

Did not think of the motors forum

Thought some of the AGS might have come across something like this before and of course i know what is posted here is not legal advice.

Signs up around the car park alright but the parking spaces were numbered to match the apartment numbers.

I nearly had heart failure when she said €600 took a lot of effort not to scream and roar down the phone at her.

if the space was numbered and you had the tennants permission then i don't see any problem, the only issue i can think of is that some apartment complexes who use clampers take the reg number of the tennants vehicle, and anyone not on that list gets a lovely sticker across the windscreen and a shiny yellow shoe for their car.

Also may have been a bad idea to cut it off, they could claim criminal damage against you.

Stark

In my apartment complex anyone can ask for anyone else's car to be clamped and the clampers will do it no questions asked. Handy bit of money for them so why not.

I doubt anything will happen to you btw. They sound like a bunch of cowboys and if they're charging €600, then they're probably more interested in flying under the radar than chasing up on a few people.

TheNog

First off thread moved to Motors. Think its more appropriate here. Mods if ye dont want here, dont move it back to ES!!! :D:D

I will say before I go is that I have no idea behind clamping or even clamping on private property but seeing that you caused criminal damage by cutting the clamp off (btw this would be needed in court to prove you did cut it) and theft of the clamp (by taking it away).

However €600 is an awful lot of money and I suppose if it did go to court you could argue that your friend who owned the space gave you permission to park the van there then I suppose your van was clamped illegally and any efforts to recoup the fine (€600) probably would fall on deaf ears with the judge. Again though you took the clamp.

Once again I have no idea about clamping nor the laws behind them and this is just my opinion on it. For the love of Alah dont take it as legal advice.

ArphaRima

If anything does come of it, perhaps you can just buy a replacement clamp. A judge might look favourably on that.

Respect.

DirtyOilBurner

Maybe she set u up and it wasnt her spot at all and got someone to clamp you?

Victor_M

Well done Mate! Private clamping companies are pretty much the lowest form of scum out there.

Developer or management company get to reap the rewards of providing insufficient visitor parking for year after they have sold the units.

Just deny any knowledge of it if they chase after you. Someone may have been kind enough to call in Angle grinder man to bail you out of trouble.

They don't give a toss if they are right or wrong, they operate on the basis of guilty until dragged through the courts and proven innocent .

Darsad

Well done mate its a pity more people dont know their rights . private clampers have no access to the vehicle data base and cannot pursue individuals and are not entitled to owners names and addresses. If you get a letter it will be a rouse to get you to pay and they have probably got somebody in their pocket supplying vehicles details. Anybody who gets a letter from a private clamping company where their details have been obtained from a reg numer should pursue it t with gutso and take a case under the data protection act then watch them squirm.

livvy

if i was you i'd get it in writing from your friend, that has control of the parking space, that she gave you permission to park there. copy her lease which also shows she had the right to give you that permission. if they go looking for you i would be ready with that.

Wishbone Ash

My wife's car was clamped by a private company recently. We were running late for a dinner appointment with others on a Saturday night in Dublin 1. All the free and pay and display spots were taken so she took a chance and parked in a private space reserved for office staff of a semi-state company. The offices were closed but there were several other cars there doing the same as us.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we returned at about midnight to find the car clamped. There was a number on it (see below) but despite ringing it for an hour it went answered. We were left with no option but to take a taxi home costing €56. We were worried about the security of the car as it wasn't in the most salubrious area of D1

The following morning, despite ringing the number again from 6am, we got no reply. At lunchtime, I took time off work and we returned to the scene. The car was fine and several minutes later a security man appeared on the scene.

The release fee was €90 cash. We said that we accepted that we parked where we shouldn't and had no problem paying the fee but were seriously pissed off that we didn't get an opportunity to do so the night before. We explained that, despite telephoning the given number for an hour the previous night, we were forced to get a taxi home. The security man said it had nothing to do with him as he doesn't answer the phones and off he went on his merry way.

There was signage indicating that parking was reserved for office personnel but none saying the clamping was in operation. The car was not causing any obstruction. Ironically, he told us that the only reason that we had been clamped was because we had parked under a CCTV camera. Otherwise they wouldn't have spotted us. :rolleyes:

Tea drinker

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

Maybe she set u up and it wasnt her spot at all and got someone to clamp you?

Yeah - Maybe she didn't like the bill you gave her

Though it's more likely the biatch next door works for the clampers...

Gran Hermano

I think it's time to invest in a de-clamping kit to keep in the boot for
'emergencies'.

Without going down the whole generator route, has anyone any suggestions what tools would be suitable for removing a clamp like
device (owned by a private company). Sledge/Lump hammer? Hacksaw?

I'd rather pay 50 quid in B&Q than reward someone for illegally detaining
my vehicle.

Eru

OK my 2 cents.

Road traffic Law has decided that any car park with a barrier blocking entrance and / or exit is private property. Its then in the owners hands how they deal with various acts that do not fall within a 'criminal' section.

This is where it gets very very grey in my opinion. If you entered private property without permission are you not guilty of tresspassing? If you were tresspassing with intent or not is arguable. You know why you were there but did everyone???

Secondly, you may have commited criminal damage and clamps cost between 500 and 1000 euro to replace. Unfortunately for you the company will have taken a reg number, probable pictures of the car clamped and I would be very surprised if the car park does not have cctv. You probable should prepare for a court appearance on those grounds. Also the theft but I would see that as ott.

However and this is where it gets grey, can they justify a 600 euro fee? Not in my opinion. Secondly, as your friend is a tenent has she the authority to grant permission for you to park there? If the space came with her apartment then again, I would consider the answer to be yes. Thirdly, even if tresspassing under what law can someone hold your property illegally? On the basis that you had permission and therefore werent tresspassing or commiting any offence then they have no right to detain your property and under statute you are entitled to use force to remove anything that blocks or impedes private property provided you have taken all reasonable steps to have the obstruction cleared. Same as someone parking over your driveway.

Its by no means a cut and dry situation and you need to check your friends tenency agreement first but you could, I repeat could, have a good defence.

Anyway, my 2cents based on experience and throwing this around in conversation with colleagues. NOT a view held by AGS nor do I take responsibility.

Looking at some other posts, folks try to remember that many many private apartment blocks get snowed under with people abandoning cars all over the place. If your the one being blocked in or out of your own living space you would be getting pretty peed off

McSpud

Eru wrote: »

Looking at some other posts, folks try to remember that many many private apartment blocks get snowed under with people abandoning cars all over the place. If your the one being blocked in or out of your own living space you would be getting pretty peed off

Clamping was introduced in my apartment complex due to double parking & commercial vehicles (they are only allowed in underground spaces). We also changed system where any one can make the call - tbh I wasn't really in favour of that as could lead to situations like that described by OP. On the otherhand we do not have designated parking. IMO the complex where the OP parked should have had a policy of ensuring only the owner of each space could make a call against it.

E600 is far too much & as suggested I would not be surprised if a Judge deemed that extortion.

Eru

McSpud wrote: »

E600 is far too much & as suggested I would not be surprised if a Judge deemed that extortion.

Another interesting point. Is clamping and demanding a de-clamp fee a form of blackmail or obtaining money by menace? thats a criminal offence. In the case of Dublin cmapers its not as they are public spaces and working under the authority of the various councils, etc.

The whole management company / private clampers is an area that merits a lot of further study and I know the SWP are constantly talking about tackling the management companies if they get elected but how and where this all stands under current law is certainly open to arguement and interpretation. Personally I think once the clamping company is fair in its dealings they are not a problem because people do abuse parking spaces but there are definitely cases where they are not fair and operating in areas they shouldnt.

I know one set of shops that have a pay and display machine and clamp vehicles. the parking space they say is 'private' but theres no barrier and they didnt build the spaces so I personally feel they are illegally clamping. Still for the sake of a euro Im not getting into it the lazy coward that I am :P

Is the OP the man to go all the way to the High court and get a precedent???

Carawaystick

Eru wrote: »

OK my 2 cents.

Road traffic Law has decided that any car park with a barrier blocking entrance and / or exit is private property. Its then in the owners hands how they deal with various acts that do not fall within a 'criminal' section.

This is where it gets very very grey in my opinion. If you entered private property without permission are you not guilty of tresspassing? If you were tresspassing with intent or not is arguable. You know why you were there but did everyone???

If you are on land with the occupiers permission you must leave when told to before trespass occurs. If the occupier prevents you from leaving, then their hand is weakened considerably.

Eru wrote: »

Secondly, you may have commited criminal damage and clamps cost between 500 and 1000 euro to replace. Unfortunately for you the company will have taken a reg number, probable pictures of the car clamped and I would be very surprised if the car park does not have cctv. You probable should prepare for a court appearance on those grounds. Also the theft but I would see that as ott.

I'd say it'd be hard to prove the owner of the vehicle damaged or stole the clamp. There also would be no way to compel the registered owner to name the driver. and the only legal way for the clamp owner to find out the name of the registered owner would be from the Gardaí after a person was fingered. I'd say the gardaí could care less about these things.

Eru

Carawaystick wrote: »

If you are on land with the occupiers permission you must leave when told to before trespass occurs. If the occupier prevents you from leaving, then their hand is weakened considerably.

Thats got nothing to do with it at all. THe question is who gives permission? The tenent or the management company? The subject of tresspass is open ended here until the OP checks the tenency agreement of his friend.

Carawaystick wrote: »

I'd say it'd be hard to prove the owner of the vehicle damaged or stole the clamp. There also would be no way to compel the registered owner to name the driver. and the only legal way for the clamp owner to find out the name of the registered owner would be from the Gardaí after a person was fingered. I'd say the gardaí could care less about these things.

There very much is a requirement to name the driver to Gardai though, see Section 177, Road traffic Act 1933 as amended. As for prosecution, the clampers hand photographs and cctv of the vehicle and the clamp to the Gardai. they look up the reg, make the lawful demand for you to name the drive (or simple recognise you from the cctv) and boom, your in front of a Judge. Its actually a very simple prosecution for Gardai and requires no prior knowledge of who was driving on the clampers part

Gran Hermano

Whilst clamping company can prove they clamped your car and have the
usual digital photos, how can they prove the clamp was still on your car
when you returned to it?

moose112

Thanks for the replies guys

Was in contact with my friend earlier about the whole parking spot issue and she finally got back to me.

Seems she actually owns the parking space "each apartment is accompanied by one parking space" there is guest parking to the rear(which i didn't see)

So i had full permission by the owner to park there.

She has also noticed that her neighbor has stopped parking there and is guessing that they contacted the clampers.

craichoe

Eru wrote: »

There very much is a requirement to name the driver to Gardai though, see Section 177, Road traffic Act 1933 as amended. As for prosecution, the clampers hand photographs and cctv of the vehicle and the clamp to the Gardai. they look up the reg, make the lawful demand for you to name the drive (or simple recognise you from the cctv) and boom, your in front of a Judge. Its actually a very simple prosecution for Gardai and requires no prior knowledge of who was driving on the clampers part

For a Garda to pursue it there would have to be criminal damage or theft, without recovery of the clamp its very hard to prove either occured.

Eru

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Whilst clamping company can prove they clamped your car and have the
usual digital photos, how can they prove the clamp was still on your car
when you returned to it?

Thats a bloody devious mind you have there!:p In a criminal case your looking at cctv or witnesses. In a civil case your only talking about 'probable' and its probable that no one stole a clamp from your car. If they were that bothered that they took a civil case is another matter again...

craichoe wrote: »

For a Garda to pursue it there would have to be criminal damage or theft, without recovery of the clamp its very hard to prove either occured.

For a Garda to investigate theres has to be an allegation of a crime. Not concrete evidence. Its the Gardas job to find the evidence if it exists. And you dont need the actual item to prove theft or criminal damage if theres a witness and / or cctv. Hell, you dont need a body to prove murder for heavens sake.

Liken a crime investigation to building a house, every piece of evidence is a brick. You need a certain amount of bricks to build the house but that doesnt mean you need all the bricks.

moose112 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys

Was in contact with my friend earlier about the whole parking spot issue and she finally got back to me.

Seems she actually owns the parking space "each apartment is accompanied by one parking space" there is guest parking to the rear(which i didn't see)

So i had full permission by the owner to park there.

She has also noticed that her neighbor has stopped parking there and is guessing that they contacted the clampers.

In that event I feel you have a good defence against allegations and in fact, a decent case against THEM. However if I were you I would sit down and examine the tenency agreement in full. She may own the spot but does the agreement give the management company rights to control it? You see, theres all sorts of ins and outs there. Either way your probable better of letting it go unless they come after you.

BTW, in case theres any confusion. I agree with the OP on this one and think the the clampers (especially the fee) is out of order.

Carawaystick

Eru wrote: »

Thats got nothing to do with it at all. THe question is who gives permission? The tenent or the management company? The subject of tresspass is open ended here until the OP checks the tenency agreement of his friend.

Mea Culpa,
I meant if you are on land without the permission of the occupier

Eru wrote: »

There very much is a requirement to name the driver to Gardai though, see Section 177, Road traffic Act 1933 as amended. As for prosecution, the clampers hand photographs and cctv of the vehicle and the clamp to the Gardai. they look up the reg, make the lawful demand for you to name the drive (or simple recognise you from the cctv) and boom, your in front of a Judge. Its actually a very simple prosecution for Gardai and requires no prior knowledge of who was driving on the clampers part

How would a section of the road traffic acts compel the owner of a vehicle to say who drove it if there was criminal damage to or theft of someone elses non-vehicle property?

Just read the section of the rta. None of the reasons listed in the act apply to private clampers on private land

Our man in Havana

If you can remove the clamp without damaging it the clamper can go swivel.

There is nothing in the RTA that would compel a RO divulge the drivers identity in a private clamping/civil case.

The burden would be on the clampers to prove everything. Also they would be very reluctant to go to court due to the arse kicking a judge would give them. A few lost clamps are a fact of life for any low life clamping operation. BTW they cost €150 at the most.

ArphaRima

On another note I would request your friend to contact the clamping company EVERY time she sees her neighbour park out of his spot. Justice!

Big Wave

Carawaystick wrote: »

Mea Culpa,

What?

McSpud

Eru wrote: »

The whole management company / private clampers is an area that merits a lot of further study and I know the SWP are constantly talking about tackling the management companies if they get elected but how and where this all stands under current law is certainly open to arguement and interpretation.

Why would they tackle Management Companies? Do you mean Management Agents? Management Companies are run by a board elected by owners. The Board appoints & oversee the Agent to run the day to day business. I know some old places not run like that but it is realy case for the owners of the houses/apartments & not a politicial issue.

markpb

McSpud wrote: »

Why would they tackle Management Companies? Do you mean Management Agents? Management Companies are run by a board elected by owners. The Board appoints & oversee the Agent to run the day to day business. I know some old places not run like that but it is realy case for the owners of the houses/apartments & not a politicial issue.

It's a very political issue, just not a legal/realistic issue. They (along with most politicians and councillors) have been pandering the "we'll tackle evil management companies" line for years now without understanding that there's nothing they can do.

As a director of the management company for my estate, I'll openly admit we use private clampers but for one reason only: a condition of our planning permission means the Gardai or the council cannot enforce the RTA on our roads. Without private clampers people can (and have) parked on double yellow lines, on corners, on blind bends, on footpaths, etc. Before we brought in clamping, people were parking on both sides of a narrow road and then complaining when the fire brigade couldn't get to an emergency. They're a necessary evil but they do have to be supervised.

Also, €600 is a crazy figure - I've never heard any company charging anything more than €120 so I wonder if the OP misheard.

cabrwab

I think ERU is talking about management companies, who are still the developer as said developer has not sold all the apartments and instead is renting them out and therefore holds a stake in the management company and usually, holds a majority stake.

But there are good manaagement companies out there as well as your pure snotty ones!

For enforcing the rules of the road clampers are an evil that is needed. And i've seen times when its though for a bike to get in and out of the road the way people can park.

At the OP was it just because you were driving a van was the reason you were clamped? I've seen/heard of this reason before no commercial vechiles are allowed park in complexes. This is something that is completely wrong and if so then they deserve to be down a clamp

Stark

cabrwab wrote: »

For enforcing the rules of the road clampers are an evil that is needed. And i've seen times when its though for a bike to get in and out of the road the way people can park.

There needs to be some sort of accountability and appeals process though. As the situation stands at the moment, a clamping can come out and clamp whomever they feel like any time they feel like a bit of extra cash.

markpb

cabrwab wrote: »

At the OP was it just because you were driving a van was the reason you were clamped? I've seen/heard of this reason before no commercial vechiles are allowed park in complexes. This is something that is completely wrong and if so then they deserve to be down a clamp

Most managed estates have this rule and it's nothing to do with the clampers. In fact, none of the reasons for being clamped are decided by the clampers - they're set down by the lease agreement which is written by the developer.

Stark wrote: »

There needs to be some sort of accountability and appeals process though. As the situation stands at the moment, a clamping can come out and clamp whomever they feel like any time they feel like a bit of extra cash.

I can't find the link now but AFAIK there was a contested court case and the judge ruled in favour of the clampers because they had proper, visible signage up indicating what would result in clamping. This seems fair enough to me.

cabrwab

And that is fair enough when the rules are set and adhered to by the companies. But it is usually a case of guilty first and prove innocence later, in my experiance.

But the clamping of commercial vechiles just because somebody drives one who lives or is staying there is a stupid practice IMO. Whatever about somebody driving/parking up an artic truck with trailer:rolleyes:!

markpb

cabrwab wrote: »

But the clamping of commercial vechiles just because somebody drives one who lives or is staying there is a stupid practice IMO. Whatever about somebody driving/parking up an artic truck with trailer:rolleyes:!

Agreed but it's a stupid policy that is hard to reverse. If the developer puts it in the lease agreement, there's nothing the clampers, the management company or even the owners can do about it. Some estates can (and have) choose not to ask the clampers to enforce it but they're a) in breech of their dutues as director and b) leave themselves and the management company open to civil court cases from owners (shareholder) who feel it should be enforced.

cabrwab

Well then the dumb gets even dumber......eh er!!!

Gran Hermano

I wonder how management companies/agents curb dodgy parking in apartment complexes in Scotland seeing as private clamping is against the law there.

markpb

Gran Hermano wrote: »

I wonder how manage companies/agents curb dodgy parking in apartment complexes in Scotland seeing as private clamping is against the law there.

I don't know for definite but I suspect it's because they don't have the same stupid situation as we do where the Gardai or local authority cannot enforce the road traffic acts (such as parking legislation) on private roads.

NUTLEY BOY

markpb wrote: »

I don't know for definite but I suspect it's because they don't have the same stupid situation as we do where the Gardai or local authority cannot enforce the road traffic acts (such as parking legislation) on private roads.

This is for the simple reason that most RTA provisions do not apply to private places but rather to public places as defined by the various RTAs. Therefore, Gardai and local authorities have no jurisdiction over RTA type issues on property that is not a public place within the RTA.

markpb

NUTLEY BOY wrote: »

This is for the simple reason that most RTA provisions do not apply to private places but rather to public places as defined by the various RTAs. Therefore, Gardai and local authorities have no jurisdiction over RTA type issues on property that is not a public place within the RTA.

I understand the legalities of it - I just think it's ridiculous that the local authorities can grant planning permission absolving them of any work and creating a situation where the Gardai cannot do their work. So now management companies have to pay someone to do the work that the LA should be doing and then have to deal with the crap that comes from those companies being both useless and in a legally dubious position.

legalbird12

Firstly 600 is a ridiculous sum to demand. That alone in court would get them in trouble.

They have no right to charge you this. You are entitled to get the clamp removed. Otherwise it is demanding money by force.

Well done, sit tight. They shouldnt come after you. These kind of companies have no morals and dont care about keeping carparks free of non-residents.

Any chance you would name the apartment block or area? I have had a few run ins with these parasites before.

stealthyspeeder

I took a clamp off (took me an hour) in full view of a watching security camera, a security guard came over and told me I was causing criminal damage, he also said he was calling the guards. I havent heard from the guards, the clampers or even the security guard who I regularly see on my lunch hour! I dont think I'll be hearing from them again, think about it.

If they take you to court, if they win, they could get 500 euros max out of you for criminal damage and you get a criminal record and pay a fine. If they lose, it would expose not just their firm, but the entire industry to how little authority they actually have to clamp your vehicle, which would result in more people taking them to court (a big expense and hassle for them) and more people cutting off clamps (big expense). For this reason it is not in their best interest to take people to court for damages to their clamp when they can catch say 3 other people who do not have the balls or the means to remove the clamp themselves to recoup the loss.

Someone mentioned earlier on this thread thread that clampers had taken someone to court and won (but they couldnt find a link to the story:rolleyes:). I think this is a spoof, as it wouldnt make sense for a firm to risk their way of making money over a trival ammount such as one clamp.

(pics of the my clamp removed are posted on another thread about clampers)

Victor

Darsad wrote: »

Well done mate its a pity more people dont know their rights . private clampers have no access to the vehicle data base and cannot pursue individuals and are not entitled to owners names and addresses. If you get a letter it will be a rouse to get you to pay and they have probably got somebody in their pocket supplying vehicles details. Anybody who gets a letter from a private clamping company where their details have been obtained from a reg numer should pursue it t with gutso and take a case under the data protection act then watch them squirm.

This may not work as (a) they have his phone number (b) was it a liveried van?

Eru wrote: »

Another interesting point. Is clamping and demanding a de-clamp fee a form of blackmail or obtaining money by menace? thats a criminal offence.

I wouldn't see ordinary clamping as anything like this. €600 is another matter though.

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Whilst clamping company can prove they clamped your car and have the usual digital photos, how can they prove the clamp was still on your car
when you returned to it?

(a) phone call (b) CCTV.

Bond-007 wrote: »

BTW they cost €150 at the most.

I'm sure it depends on model, but htere was a court case where someone broke a clamp while removing it and the bill was something like €500. The judge deducted VAT though (which I disagree with).

stealthyspeeder

Victor wrote: »

I'm sure it depends on model, but htere was a court case where someone broke a clamp while removing it and the bill was something like €500.

Link for court case?

McSpud

We used to have a ban on all commercial vehicles in our complex as some people were parking what amounted to trucks. Last year we amended the run so that commercial vehicles only allowed in underground car park which has a height restriction.

Clamping is a necessary evil as it is the only way to control ignorant people parking in places that block other spaces.

moose112

Got no sign writing on the van(word of mouth best advertiser:))

I drive a MWB transit not excessively big have never had a problem fitting it in a standard parking space. By banning them from complex's where do they expect workmen to park?(and i expect to hear the usual response not our problem)

Most underground or multistory car parks have height restrictions so vans cant fit in.

just a few things i have noticed

McSpud

moose112 wrote: »

I drive a MWB transit not excessively big have never had a problem fitting it in a standard parking space. By banning them from complex's where do they expect workmen to park?(and i expect to hear the usual response not our problem)

Most underground or multistory car parks have height restrictions so vans cant fit in.

If members want to change it they can propose a vote at the AGM. Maybe 15% of Management Company members turn up for our AGM so would be very easy to change. Not my problem anyway as not on the board any more. A transit will probably fit in our underground car park, otherwise they park on public street. Never bothered me much but some people son't like large vans outside their window.

Victor_M

McSpud wrote: »

Clamping is a necessary evil as it is the only way to control ignorant people parking in places that block other spaces.

Whilst i agree in principle to what you've said here, I have found in my experience that when it comes to private clamper's the cure is worse than the disease.

More often a note on a window or if pushed a few of those feck off & stop parking here stickers solves the problem, once you let those blood sucking money grabbers in they clamp anything that stops for more than 2 minutes.

We had it ion our place before the courts banned it, to add insult to injury you had to make the cheque out to the builder.
I am very vigilant about parking correctly and do my very best to ensure visitors park correctly, but the odd time I'd forget to ask where a visitor parked straight away and only think of asking 5 - 10 mins later only to find the scumbags would have clamped the car already, even though they had not actually caused an obstruction to anyone and were about to move, and as a result of being clamped were now causing an obstruction.
Private management companies and private clamper's are amongst some of the worst things to arise from the Celtic tiger.Rant over

Victor

stealthyspeeder wrote: »

Link for court case?

http://gofree.indigo.ie/~vcahill/huntstown/newsnov03.html#story23

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/replacing-clamp-damaged-by-cabbie-to-cost-2100-201728.html

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2004/0123/1074675698161.html (Archived)